The waterway of the Yellow River is one of the important transportation channels of the Tang Dynasty, and there is an endless flow of ships coming and going. Among the ships that went eastward, the ships that went to sea to Dengzhou accounted for a large part, and these ships were like rich and expensive merchant ships, pulling all kinds of Datang products to sell in Dengzhou, and the maritime merchants gathered in Dengzhou ate these goods and transported them to overseas countries in the south or north. And when these ships came back from Dengzhou, they were full of all kinds of overseas specialties, and they were all profitable.

Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng's master and apprentice, they have seen a lot of such ships along the way, just when they were about to reach the boundary of Laizhou, they encountered several very special big ships, these ships looked very strange, obviously refitted, all the useless things on them were removed, only the cabin and the Dengzhou Insight (Above) deck of Chapter 16 "Divine Stick" outside. If it was just like this, it would not attract the attention of Yuan Tiangang's master and apprentice, but what really attracted them was the goods pulled on the ship.

I saw that the decks of these strange ships were full of ragged people, although these people were all very thin, but from the appearance, they were all men in the prime of life, if you look closely, you can also tell from those rags that these people are not the people of the Tang Dynasty.

Seeing these strange ships, as long as the people on the Qiangui merchant ship were not busy, they were attracted to watch the excitement, after all, this was the first time they had seen this kind of thing. But Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng frowned, looking at the appearance of these people, they were very similar to those slaves to be bought in the human market, but who would buy so many foreign slaves at one time?

For the strange ship in front of him, not only Yuan Tiangang's master and apprentice couldn't guess the other party's origin, but even Qian Gui, who had always been very familiar with the waterway of the Yellow River, couldn't figure out the situation, and when the two fleets staggered by, they were only a dozen meters apart. Qian Gui climbed on the string of the boat and shouted to the other party: "Brother on the opposite boat, where are you pulling this from?" Where are you going? ”

"Oh, we are Silla slaves pulled from Dengju, and we are going to pull them to work in the coal mines." On the opposite boat, there was a steward in Dengzhou who happened to see and hear Chapter 16 "Divine Stick" (above), and when he heard Qian Gui's question, he didn't hide it.

"Carboniferous?" Qian Gui was taken aback, thinking about the news he heard from his friends from all walks of life, and immediately understood what was going on, so he then asked, "Then you are His Royal Highness King Qi's people?" ”

"Hehe, we are not from the Qi Palace. It is the house slave of the Changping Yan family. The steward on the other side explained with a smile. Exactly. They were Yanbei's subordinates, and these slaves were the Silla slaves that the slave hunting association had bought or robbed.

"I see, thank you dude!" After figuring out the matter, Qian Gui immediately gave up his hand and thanked the other party. And the other party also gave gifts.

"Money is expensive, is there a shortage of people in the coal mines, and you want to use these Silla slaves as miners?" Yuan Tiangang asked with some curiosity.

"Old immortal, there is not only a shortage of people in the coal mine, but also a serious shortage of people, after all, so many new mines were opened at once last year, although they can recruit some farmers around, but it is only a drop in the bucket, and when it comes to farming. The farmers had to go home to work, and the production of coal would be affected, and the mine owners had to work hard to solve this shortage of people. Qian Gui said with some schadenfreude that he also wanted to build a carboniferous mine to play last year, but unfortunately he was late. The mines that are easy to dig are occupied by others, and the remaining carboniferous mines are either not discovered, or they are found but the cost of mining is too high, and they cannot be made until the end, so they can only watch others make money and drool on their own.

After saying the above words, Qian Gui suddenly remembered one more thing, turned his head to look around, and found that there was no one else, so he whispered in Yuan Tiangang's ear and said: "Old immortal, I heard that Lu Guogong and British Duke and other old men, in order to solve the problem of lack of people in the coal mine under their name, organized a large caravan to buy slaves on the northern grassland, and they could buy thousands of slaves at a time. ”

"Huh? How could there be such a thing? Yuan Tiangang looked very surprised, he was also very familiar with Li Ji, Cheng Yanjin, etc., and he also visited the two of them when he returned to Chang'an this time, but he had never heard of it.

"Money is expensive, it's good that you know about it, don't talk nonsense when you go outside." Although Qian Gui's voice was not loud, Li Chunfeng also heard it very clearly, for this matter, as Taishi Ling, he also knew some inside information, which not only involved the princes of Gon above the court, but even His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He saw that although Qian Gui was greedy for money, at least his character was not bad, so he kindly reminded him, so as not to let people with good intentions hear about it and cause trouble.

"Yes, yes, yes! The villain knows! Thank you for reminding! Qian Gui is an old oilman, he also knows Li Chunfeng's identity, as soon as he heard the other party's words, he immediately understood the kindness of others, so he bowed down and thanked him.

The slave ship was a small episode on their way, and after going out to sea from the mouth of the Yellow River, they followed the coast to Dengzhou, and the journey together took more than a month. Just when the ships lined up to enter the port, Yuan Tiangang was still a little emotional, because the last time he came to Dengzhou, although the port here was prosperous, compared with the scene he saw now, there was still a little gap, at least the last time he came to Dengzhou, he didn't have to queue for such a long time when he entered the port.

Finally entered the port, after finding the berth and stopping, Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng said goodbye to Qian Gui, and as soon as they got on the dock, they immediately felt a little strange, the two looked down and found that the entire wharf was paved with cement, and it was renovated, which looked very durable.

"Boom~" Just when the two of them looked at the cement dock under their feet, there was a sudden thunderous sound in their ears, which startled the two of them, thinking that it was thunder on a sunny day, Li Chunfeng hurriedly pinched his fingers and counted it to see if this sign was bad or auspicious, but they soon found that the thunder came from a bay next to it, and it sounded every once in a while, very regular, not like thunder in the sky.

As soon as the two discussed, they planned to find someone to ask about the situation, and they happened to see a tea shop on the dock, so they walked in, called the guy to serve a pot of tea, and called the guy who just wanted to leave, and was about to ask where the thunder came from?

But what they didn't expect was that the guy replied first: "Two immortal elders, but I want to ask what is going on with this thunder?" ”

"Huh? We haven't said anything yet, how do you know what we're going to ask? Li Chunfeng was surprised, although he could pinch and calculate, he was also a mortal, even if he was impossible, it was impossible for others to say anything in advance, and Yuan Tiangang next to him was also surprised.

"Hehe, the two immortals are not in a hurry, our tea shop is open on this dock, there are many merchants from the south to the north, and the guests who ask this question these days have thousands of people together, so now as long as someone stops the villain, there is no need to guess, it must be asking the origin of this thunder." The guy in this shop is very sharp, and he can explain the reason clearly in a few words.

"Then there is a Lao shopkeeper to solve the confusion for the two of us!" But Yuan Tiangang's master and apprentice couldn't laugh or cry when they heard it, but they still gave up their hands and begged.

"Hehe, in fact, this matter is very simple, since the two immortals came by boat, they naturally found that this port is now a little crowded, so His Royal Highness the King of Qi funded a new port in a bay next to it, but because there are more reefs there, it was difficult to deal with before, but now I heard that His Royal Highness the King of Qi invented a kind of heavenly thunder, which can blow up the reef, and this sound is the sound made when the heavenly thunder bombs the reef." The shopkeeper explained.

"Heavenly thunder? What kind of thing is that? Yuan Tiangang asked with some surprise. Although the Thunderbolt Courtyard, which manufactures gunpowder weapons, has been established in Chang'an, it is still in the stage of secrecy, and not many people know about it except for a few Chinese military ministers, not even Li Chunfeng next to him has not heard of it.

"This villain doesn't know, anyway, the whole Dengzhou is spreading like this, but except for the henchmen and craftsmen in the Qi Palace, no one has ever seen what Lei looked like that day." The guy said.

Seeing that he couldn't ask anything anymore, Yuan Tiangang had to let the guy step back, and he and Li Chunfeng discussed in a whisper. But before he could finish his cup of tea, he saw several more ships stop on the dock, which, unlike ordinary merchant ships, were equipped with improvised weapons, and then many ragged Silla slaves walked down from them, and it seemed that these ships were slave catchers.

As soon as the slaves got off the boat, they were led to a large courtyard next to the dock, where they could not see clearly and what they were for, because of the courtyard wall, but from the courtyard there was a pungent smell of lime. It just so happened that the guy came over again, so Yuan Tiangang opened his mouth and asked, "Shop, what is that yard for?" ”

"Oh, it's called the cleaning factory, all the slaves captured from overseas have to be thoroughly cleaned inside, and the clothes have to be boiled in lime water, I heard that these slaves are afraid of any infectious diseases, or His Royal Highness the King of Qi asked people to build it." When it comes to Li Su, the young guy is adored.

"Well, it's a good way, I didn't expect His Royal Highness King Qi to be a doctor of medicine." Li Chunfeng also praised that he was not a pedantic person, and he had no opinion on the matter of catching slaves, but he was very interested in the method of lime disinfection, and secretly thought that he must find a time to ask the King of Qi for advice.

"By the way, two immortal elders, it's not easy for you to come to Dengzhou once, do you want to bring some Dengzhou specialties back?" The guy suddenly asked in a mysterious whisper.

"Oh? What specialty? Yuan Tiangang asked with a smile, he found that the Dengzhou in front of him was very different from the Dengzhou he saw a few years ago, it seemed that since Li Su came to Dengzhou, everything here has changed.

"Wait a minute, the two immortal elders, I'll go and get it for the two of you!" As soon as the guy saw the door, he immediately rushed to the counter to get something. Although the other party is two Taoist priests, but the Tang Dynasty believes in Taoism, and the general Taoist priests are rich people, especially the two eyes, the Taoist robes on their bodies are ordinary on the surface, but the workmanship is extremely fine, they must be rich people, plus they have just come to Dengzhou, and they are very likely to make a big business. (To be continued)RQ!!